Ingredients
Here's how to make the perfect American Cheesecake: All you need is butter and crackers for the super simple base. I recommend graham crackers, whole-grain cookies from the USA, which are now also available in most German supermarkets. Regular whole-grain butter cookies are also suitable for NY cheesecake.
As already mentioned, the cream consists of cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, sugar, and some starch (or flour or vanilla pudding powder). You must mix the ingredients carefully, but not too much. Otherwise, the mixture may become runny or fluffy - both suboptimal. I make the New York Cheesecake in a water bath. This prevents it from collapsing or tearing after baking. In addition, you should leave the finished cake first in the closed, turned-off oven and then still in the slightly open oven. In my experience, the edge of the cake may "tip" inward slightly.
How to make New York Cheesecake
At first, lightly grease the bottom of a 10 in / 26 cm springform pan or cover it with baking paper. The pan should close very well. Finely grind the cookies with a kitchen chopper or food processor for the cookie crumb base. Alternatively, place the cookies in a large freezer bag and roll them over several times with a rolling pin.
Now, melt the butter and mix well with the cookie crumbs. Spread the mixture as evenly as possible on the bottom of the springform pan and press it down with your hands, a palette, or a glass. The cake is later cooked in a water bath to not crack or become too dry. To do this, wrap the mold well with aluminum foil all around. Refrigerate the pan while preparing the cream. Preheat the oven to 320°F / 160°C.
For the topping, beat the cream cheese with sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Add sour cream, custard powder, eggs, and salt. Blend everything on low speed until creamy. Do not beat the cream too long, vigorously, or fluffy; just mix the ingredients well to a homogeneous mass. While beating, stop occasionally and scrape the cream off the side. After this, carefully pour the cream cheese mixture onto the prepared base. Place the pan on a deep baking sheet or in a large roasting pan. Place in the oven and fill the baking sheet with hot water (preferably with a measuring cup or similar) so that it is filled no more than two-thirds.
Cook the cake very roughly for 1 ¼ hours. The top should remain light rather than browned; cover toward the end if necessary. The cheesecake mixture can and should still "jiggle"; it will firm up as it cools. After the baking time, turn off the oven. Let the cake sit in the closed oven for at least 30 minutes. Then open the oven door a crack wide, e.g. with a wooden cooking spoon, and let the cheesecake stand in again for about 30 minutes.
Now, carefully remove the pan from the water bath. Make sure to chill the cake again for at least 3 hours before cutting, preferably overnight. If desired, serve with a purée of pureed and possibly lightly sugared berries. Enjoy!
Top Tip
If you want to make American cheesecake, don't bake it too long. The cream may still wobble a little; when it cools down, it becomes firmer. This is also the most complicated step in the recipe: The waiting time is quite terrible 😉 … But anticipation is supposedly the best joy. And in the meantime, you can think about whether you want to eat the pieces pure or serve the New York Cheesecake with raspberries or strawberries.
Recipe Card
New York Cheesecake
Equipment
- 1 springform pan (10 in / 26 cm)
Ingredients
For the cookie crumb base
- 220 grams (1 cup) wholemeal cookies
- 100 grams (⅖ cup) butter
For the cream
- 1000 grams (4 ⅖ cups) cream cheese
- 200 grams (1 cup) sour cream
- 5 eggs, medium
- 230 grams (1 cup) sugar, coarse
- 30 grams (4 ⅓ tablespoons) vanilla pudding powder, or cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon (⅓ teaspoon) salt
Instructions
- Lightly grease the bottom of a 10 in / 26 cm springform pan or cover it with baking paper. The pan should close very well. Finely grind the cookies with a kitchen chopper or food processor for the cookie crumb base. Alternatively, place the cookies in a large freezer bag and roll them over several times with a rolling pin.
- Melt the butter and mix well with the cookie crumbs. Spread the mixture as evenly as possible on the bottom of the springform pan and press it down with your hands, a palette, or a glass.
- The cake is later cooked in a water bath to not crack or become too dry. To do this, wrap the mold well with aluminum foil all around. Refrigerate the pan while preparing the cream. Preheat the oven to 320°F / 160°C
- For the topping, beat the cream cheese with sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Add sour cream, custard powder, eggs, and salt. Blend everything on low speed until creamy. Do not beat the cream too long, vigorously, or fluffy; just mix the ingredients well to a homogeneous mass. While beating, stop occasionally and scrape the cream off the side.
- Carefully pour the cream cheese mixture onto the prepared base. Place the pan on a deep baking sheet or in a large roasting pan. Place in the oven and fill the baking sheet with hot water (preferably with a measuring cup or similar) so that it is filled no more than two-thirds.
- Cook the cake very roughly for 1 ¼ hours. The top should remain light rather than browned; cover toward the end if necessary. The cheesecake mixture can and should still "jiggle"; it will firm up as it cools.
- After the baking time, turn off the oven. Let the cake sit in the closed oven for at least 30 minutes. Then open the oven door a crack wide, e.g. with a wooden cooking spoon, and let the cheesecake stand in again for about 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove the pan from the water bath. Make sure to chill the cake again for at least 3 hours before cutting, preferably overnight. If desired, serve with a purée of pureed and possibly lightly sugared berries.
Notes
- The best and most typical cookies for the base are graham crackers, now available in many supermarkets. Alternatively, use regular (whole-wheat) butter cookies.
- If the cookies contain a lot of butter/fat, you should use a little less butter. Therefore, it is best to start with 80 grams of butter and then possibly add some more. Depending on how sweet the cookies are, add 2 tablespoons or so of sugar to the mixture.
- Theoretically, you can do without the water bath (see these instructions), especially if you coat the cake entirely with berry puree and possible cracks are concealed with it.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
You can find similar recipes here: the traditional German cheesecake, the vegan alternative of the New York cheesecake, and the American caramel cheesecake. I also created a low carb cheesecake alternative as well as the simply delicious cheesecake brownies and the no-bake alternative with Oreos.
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